Lawyer: Iranian supertanker captain no longer wants the job

The captain of an Iranian supertanker at the center of a diplomatic standoff no longer wants to keep command of the ship, which is in need of repairs that could impede its immediate departure from Gibraltar, the sailor's lawyer said Friday.

The tanker and its 2.1 million tons of Iranian light crude oil seemed to perform mild maneuvers on Friday but largely remained still, shrouded in heavy fog in waters off the British overseas territory a day after authorities ended its detention for allegedly breaching European Union sanctions on Syria.

The release Thursday, as the United States reportedly maneuvered to re-seize the tanker, came as the head of the Gibraltar government said that Iran had promised him not to deliver the fuel to a sanctioned refinery in Syrian territory, although an Iranian official later disputed that those assurances had been delivered.

Any delay of the vessel's departure could provide a window of opportunity for the US to mount further legal action and try to again stop the tanker amid growing confrontation with Tehran.

Tensions have escalated since President Donald Trump last year unilaterally pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal signed by Iran and other world powers.

The decision re-imposed sanctions on Iran, stopping billions of dollars in business deals, largely halting the sale of Iran's crude oil internationally and sharply depreciating Iran's currency, the rial.

More recently, the Persian Gulf has seen attacks on oil tankers and other high-stakes confrontations.

In early July, Tehran seized the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero in apparent retaliation for the detention of the Grace 1.

Analysts had said the release of the Grace 1 by Gibraltar could see the Stena Impero go free.

But that prospect remained up in the air on Friday with a lawyer representing three Grace 1 crew members who were released from detention on Thursday casting doubts on the vessel's immediate departure.

Richard Wilkinson told The Associated Press that the Indian national who commanded the oil tanker until it was detained in early July had asked his Iranian employers to replace him.

"He doesn't want to stay in command of the ship, he wants to go home, because he wasn't happy to go back and pick up the broken pieces," said Wilkinson.

"But he's a professional skipper and needs to wait for a new crew to do a proper handover."
In response, the Gibraltar government issued a statement saying that "the evidence is clear and the facts speak louder than the self-serving political statements we are hearing today."
"It could be today. It could be tomorrow. This is a matter now exclusively for the ship agents and ship owners."
"They seem to want to enforce American sanctions in British territorial waters. Good luck with that," Wilkinson said, adding that "the US is pretty late in the day."